Two ways Exercise Makes You Smarter:
Welcome to our health & self help blog.
In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.
Today's post: Tuesday, 8-8-2006
Two ways Exercise Makes You Smarter:
1. The first way is highlighted in this month’s (August 2006) Reader’s Digest in their article, “The #1 Secret To a Sharper Brain”
The author concludes that of all the ways to boost your brainpower, regular exercise is the most effective & essential.
(If staying sharp & thinking well is important to you, you might like the rest of his article & find it well worth reading as his other 10 strategies are sound also in my humble opinion.)
The researchers he quotes say that a combination of strength training & aerobics work best & that exercise prevents many kinds of brain decline as we get older.
In addition, “exercise increases capillary development the brain” which gives your brain more blood supply & the nutrients & oxygen it runs on.
The effect is like connecting a supercharger in an engine that is designed to run best when supercharged.
And, no surprise, fit people “have sharper brains” & think better & faster.
But, of most importance, “people who are out of shape, but then get into shape, sharpen up their brains.
The author also mentions that exercise helps prevent “heart disease, obesity, diabetes, “ & other diseases that harm the brain.
2. Excess stress tends to divert blood flow from the cerebral cortex, which is the part of your brain that thinks & can help you come up with creative solutions to problems.
And, as Kenneth Cooper found, regular aerobic exercise helps people have less of this reaction when they are stressed.
Your stress level is reduced while you exercise, much like meditation. And, as you become fit, your breathing & heart rate at rest slow but become more powerful. In addition, exercise teaches & trains your body to speed up on demand but to then relax quickly afterwards.
(In fact, one of the ways to measure fitness is to have people exercise enough to speed their heart rate; then have them stop; & measure how long it takes for their heart rate to return to normal. The less time it takes, the more fit the person is.)
This acts as a shock absorber for sudden stress as your heart is better rested when sudden stress starts & recovers more quickly when it stops.
In addition, the better blood supply to your brain when you are fit means that when some of it is diverted to your muscles in a fight or flight response, there’s likely to be more still available than it would be if you weren’t fit.
Conclusion: There are other ways to be mentally sharper. And, there are other ways to prevent or reduce excessive stress. (By all means uses as many as you can.)
But regular exercise is still the most effective & important strategy you can use to keep your brain sharp & effective.
In it we post health commentary & reviews of books, eBooks, & other things that improve or protect your health or which enable you to live longer, to be more prosperous, & to be more effective.
Today's post: Tuesday, 8-8-2006
Two ways Exercise Makes You Smarter:
1. The first way is highlighted in this month’s (August 2006) Reader’s Digest in their article, “The #1 Secret To a Sharper Brain”
The author concludes that of all the ways to boost your brainpower, regular exercise is the most effective & essential.
(If staying sharp & thinking well is important to you, you might like the rest of his article & find it well worth reading as his other 10 strategies are sound also in my humble opinion.)
The researchers he quotes say that a combination of strength training & aerobics work best & that exercise prevents many kinds of brain decline as we get older.
In addition, “exercise increases capillary development the brain” which gives your brain more blood supply & the nutrients & oxygen it runs on.
The effect is like connecting a supercharger in an engine that is designed to run best when supercharged.
And, no surprise, fit people “have sharper brains” & think better & faster.
But, of most importance, “people who are out of shape, but then get into shape, sharpen up their brains.
The author also mentions that exercise helps prevent “heart disease, obesity, diabetes, “ & other diseases that harm the brain.
2. Excess stress tends to divert blood flow from the cerebral cortex, which is the part of your brain that thinks & can help you come up with creative solutions to problems.
And, as Kenneth Cooper found, regular aerobic exercise helps people have less of this reaction when they are stressed.
Your stress level is reduced while you exercise, much like meditation. And, as you become fit, your breathing & heart rate at rest slow but become more powerful. In addition, exercise teaches & trains your body to speed up on demand but to then relax quickly afterwards.
(In fact, one of the ways to measure fitness is to have people exercise enough to speed their heart rate; then have them stop; & measure how long it takes for their heart rate to return to normal. The less time it takes, the more fit the person is.)
This acts as a shock absorber for sudden stress as your heart is better rested when sudden stress starts & recovers more quickly when it stops.
In addition, the better blood supply to your brain when you are fit means that when some of it is diverted to your muscles in a fight or flight response, there’s likely to be more still available than it would be if you weren’t fit.
Conclusion: There are other ways to be mentally sharper. And, there are other ways to prevent or reduce excessive stress. (By all means uses as many as you can.)
But regular exercise is still the most effective & important strategy you can use to keep your brain sharp & effective.
posted by David at 1:26 PM
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